911 Pictures -- Help -- so we won't forget

The flower vigil that kept blooming
By JOSHUNDA SANDERS
The worn, black leather shoes of an unidentified man said to have died in last week's terrorist attacks stopped many of the visitors at the Seattle Center's International Fountain. The shoes, filled with wilted flowers and a single American flag, were surrounded by pink chalk with a message indicating the shoes belonged to a victim of the attack. "I still won't let you down, Dad," read a message scrawled in a child's handwriting.
Like many of the letters, pictures and personal items that were placed at the fountain, the shoes triggered fresh grief and tears in those who brought more flowers, teddy bears and prayers to the Seattle Center yesterday morning.
The flower vigil, which officially ended yesterday, was meant to be an impromptu service, but over the last few days it became much more.
"It was supposed to last for a couple of hours," said Seattle Center Director Virginia Anderson, her eyes filling with tears. "Instead, it lasted a couple of days."
By 9:30 a.m., thousands of visitors were still circling the fountain, examining the objects that were to be sorted through in half an hour, trying to immortalize the enormous florid shrine. Susan Wolken, 45, of Everett came to show her support of the vigil and to grieve with the community. "There are no words to explain how I feel," Wolken said. "I just had to come here to get it all out."
Visitors seemed unprepared to pull away the relics of inspiration and grief, as fresh tears welled in the eyes of many, and a slight breeze extinguished a few of the 100 candles that had melted onto the concrete. "Nothing can capture what's here," said Sherry Lince, 54, of Bremerton. "It's just very moving. The tragedy in New York is so great I think it's beyond our ability to understand it."
Lince took pictures anyway, to preserve her memories of the fountain adorned in the thoughts of residents like herself. She stood a few feet away from a letter written by one young resident, ink smeared from morning dew, which read: "They may be able to hurt our hearts, but they can never change our faith."
"Being here makes all of the events last week real," said Marcelene Schwalk, 47, of Marysville. "It's hard to imagine the destruction, but I can imagine it standing here."
No doubt the images of the tragedy will stay with people throughout the country. But as the vigil at the fountain ended yesterday, visitors seemed to replace the explosive and persistent images of mayhem with the delicate memory of a fragrant oasis here.
The vigil at the Seattle Center ended at 10 a.m. when Mayor Paul Schell, firefighters and police officers solemnly gathered wreaths, pictures and firefighter boots.
Visitors stood silently for several minutes before they began piling roses and sunflowers next to two police cars, which were also covered in flags and greenery. Nearly a million flowers had accumulated in a week's time, and they will be composted into mulch. A portion of the mulch will be given to Seattle's P-patch garden network, and some will be saved for a memorial tree-planting ceremony planned for the opening of the Seattle Center's new Flag Pavilion next September.
The non-perishable items will be sent to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's office in New York City, said Perry Cooper, a Seattle Center spokesman.
Many of the prayers and poems will be bound into memory books and sent to the cities.
"It was a hard to decision to decide when to or how to end the vigil," Cooper said. "But we're thrilled that this has become a gathering place."
"I'm just stunned by the goodness of people," Anderson said, watching volunteers from the Center School and some meandering visitors gather flowers in green and blue bins.
"Some things are magic and it was magic," she said.
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